I've talked a lot lately about Rockford Promise, and today I'll do so again. It occurs to me that if Transform Rockford wants to accomplish something concrete in a short time, the Transformers should take on the funding of this college scholarship program.

Rockford's key problem is that its populace lacks sufficient book learnin' to supply the needs of a modern economy - we have about 20 percent of adults with a college education and need 25 percent or more. It's obvious we're not going to be bringing a giant, state university here; they're not making more of those.

Instead, it would be relatively easy to emulate 40-some communities around the nation and fully fund the "Promise" program to pay for every Rockford Public Schools graduate to get a college education or equivalent career training certificate. A study by the Upjohn Institute said such a program would cost $5.6 million a year.

Besides the Transformers, the local real estate groups and the Chamber of Commerce should actively promote "Promise," by which I mean fundraising.

If another key problem of ours is declining property values, one way to turn that around and offer people an incentive to move to the Forest City is the promise of a paid college education for their children.

Of course, industries and other businesses can also help by stopping the common practice of telling their new recruits that they should avoid living in Rockford at all costs - a common practice. That would be quite a transformation in and of itself.

I'd like to see this slogan become familiar to everyone in area: "Come to Rockford, where kids go to college free."

Pickleball on trial

I did not get to the Great Pickleball Caper court decision last week, when a judge rendered a thundering verdict, but I'll talk about it today.

In case you don't remember, a couple of octogenarian women living close to Sinnissippi Park sued the Rockford Park District because they didn't like the sound of "pickleball" games being played on converted tennis courts in the park. They demanded an end to pickleball.

Pickleball is kind of like tennis, only it's played with a wooden paddle and a plastic ball with holes in it - a whiffle ball. When you hit the ball, it makes a crisp, "whack!" sound. The park district installed pickleball courts in September 2010 to keep up with popular demand.

In June 2012 the two women, Jeanette Haskell and Barbara Friel, filed the suit saying that "the noise filters into every part of their property and household," and therefore was a nuisance. Haskell has since died.

Ruling for the Park District and pickelballers everywhere, 17th Circuit Judge Eugene Doherty said, "While pickleball was not (at Sinnissippi) when plaintiffs moved into the neighborhood, surely they knew that they were moving in proximity to a large park ... Part of living next to this particular park is that neighbors will experience sounds of picnickers at the pavilions, or children at the playground, or music from the bandshell or tennis from the tennis courts."

Page 2 of 2 - And, in striking a blow for common sense, Doherty concluded, "Plaintiffs are mistaken, however, if they feel that they have the right to lock the district into those activities, and only those, which existed at the time they became neighbors."

This reminds me of incidents in the 1960s when people were flooding into new subdivisions near Chicago O'Hare International Airport. When they got there they complained endlessly about jet noise from the world's busiest airport.

Modern times are noisy. So, when life hands you a pickle, play pickleball.